Monday, February 22, 2010

PEnny Portrait Girl w Big Bow

Back to Gouache again. I am determined to figure out how best to use this medium. Its a challenge for sure as no other paint dries so quickly. I love the poster paint look it gives and rich opaque texture. I also realize I must attack or at least complete my taxes, there is no more running away from them. The aid from my accountant arrived on Saturday and I am still starring at the manila envelope on my desk unopened, knowing once opened I must work on them and really, who wants to work on their taxes, let alone pay them. I did make less this year so will owe less and with the move to Eugene will need more but it will all work out, it usually does. I will get Rita into college and a dorm safely and securely and then try not to worry about drunken parties and walking alone at night. All those things we don't want to think about but have to let go of the protection thing eventually. A film calledAn American OperaAmerica suffered its worst domestic animal crisis in history when tens of thousands of animals were left to perish in neighborhoods all across the gulf.

Follow the heartfelt story, magically crafted by Director Tom McPhee, of the pets, vets, owners, officials, rescuers and adopters of animals as they work through the chaos to do what is right only to discover not everyone is working toward the same goal!The lost pets of Hurricane KatrinaThe poster above is for a film that was made by Tom McPhee about the pets lost in hurricane Katrina.I started to watch an independent film last night on the PBS channel which I love, it was called"Mine" a film about how people during hurrican KAtrina dealt with the loss of their pets. Apparently the hotels and motels put up signs saying"no pets" and the sky dome where the biggest shelter of all was didn't allow pets so people left big bowls of dog food and left their dogs and cats behind. I saw about 2 minutes of dogs perched on the top of homes that were floating and another of an older black man talking about the pet left behind, I yelled outloud and Rita thought something happened to me. The grief overwhelmed me and I changed the channel as fast as possible. I cannot forget the look on one large poodle's face looking through the screen door of a floating house with water up to his knees. His face was so hopeful, like "I know you will come get me" . It don't think we realize how hard it must have been for those people, first to lose their homes and then pets. I know many lives were also lost and I don't want to make light of that but this film was all about the pets and for me it was more than I could bear. I am sure there were good moments but I couldn't make it past the sad ones to see them.This Site has a page of lost Katrina PEts. If you go there you will see many of the ones that were on the movie, including BAndit who belonged to the old african american man I spoke of. I cannot believe how many pets these people lost. GO and see it is stagering.

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About Me

I am a mother of 2 wonderful girls, grandmother of 4, don't worry you will see photos of them one day!
I live in Sedona Arizona, a beautiful place, lots of sun and blue blue skies! I listen to politics and my favorite radio channel is Cinemix. I am the oldest of 11 , I love my kids, my parents and my siblings and my friends!!

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LAura Slocum Etsy Friend w Ovarian Cancer click her photo to get more info on how to participate

Etsyprojectembrace -many Etsy artists are participating in a fund raiser for the cancer society.....20 percent of all of my card profits will go to American Cancer Foundation in Laura Slocum's name a wonderful fellow Etsy artist who is battling ovarian cancer. If you order 5 or more I will include free shipping as well. Thank you for your order! follow the link under this to go to my store. Here is Laura's letter in her own words"I believe that you must play the hand you’re dealt. Six weeks ago, I was diagnosed with stage 3 Ovarian Cancer. My mom died from the same. I am a huge believer in eating right, exercising, and getting regular checkups. I’ve done all those things, yet, I have cancer. WOW. That’s a life-changing situation, for sure. I just turned 46 …. (a very very young 46!) Strangely, I feel blessed. Most everyday of these 6 weeks, I’ve had a smile on my face. I’m going to play the hand I’ve been dealt in the best and most positive way I know how. I’m so fortunate my boys are older, they drive, they can do laundry and help around the house. There will always be some people in this world who have it better and some who have it worse. That’s just life. I’ve been an Etsy addict since around this time last year, when I started doing treasuries. My sister Jenn, of jennreese7 and my niece Kelly, of SweetnessJewelry, are also crazy about Etsy. The one thing I’ve learned in the past year is that Etsy has made it a point to have their competing sellers be friends through promoting each other in the treasuries. That sounds kind of funny, but, on the quest to have the “coveted” FP, we create treasuries, we comment on other treasuries, we “convo” people all over the world to congratulate them on their successes, and we make friends. Aren’t we supposed to be competing for sales?? Well, maybe some things are just more important than sales. From the moment I had a diagnosis, while still in the hospital, my Etsy friends were first on the scene – building treasuries just for me, wishing me well, offering advice, sending gifts, and a few have gone so far as to donate proceeds to the American Cancer Society in my honor!! Just to remind you………these are people ....I’VE NEVER MET! They have completely gone out of their way to be a friend or try to put a smile on my face. I now even talk to some of them on the phone! Now, I’m not talking 2 or 3 friends, I’m talking like 30 or 40! Some people just have checked my profile and offer words of encouragement! The first day that we learned about my chemo and all the ‘ins and outs’, the ‘goods and bads’, etc., my husband went online to search for support groups. He said to me that night, “I will never do that again, I was so depressed that I had to get off the computer” I said, in reply, “I don’t need support groups, I all need are my friends on Etsy”! They lift me up on a daily basis. It is Sunday. Tomorrow morning, I will leave my house at 7:30 am for my first round of chemo. I will have an IV drip for about 6 hours and be home around 5:00 pm. I will do that again on Tuesday, then again on Wednesday. then again on the following Monday. I look forward to 8 months of that chemo schedule, followed by another year of some form of maintenance chemo. There are 4 things I know for sure: 1. I am a Christian and I believe God has a plan for me. 2. I believe in myself to do the very best I can do and try to help others in the process by getting my story out there. 3. I have the most wonderful and supportive husband, family and friends. 4. Logging onto Etsy everyday and hearing from my friends will keep this smile on my face, not matter what I am going through." Please use the words etsyprojectembrace to search for listings that will take you to items which are tagged to reflect a donation to Cancer Foundation. and thank you!!!

My Ebay Store Link with more vintage photos

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Darling Daisy

another often neglected flower DAISY! click to see larger in my store..wonderful details in background

I have been featured on Etsy Stalker~

click the image to go see my graduation card featured! Thanks to Beatrice and Violet!

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Sara Goes to a PArty

This is a photo taken by my sister Sharon of my oldest daughter Sara when she was about 5 years old. I remember she was going to a birthday party of her friend Garen who lived in the neighborhood. This is an excellent photo that Sharon took and the design elements are what strike me the minute I see this. Plaid pants, wool sweater with little hearts and a bow tie shirt that I know Sara found at our local goodwill, a place back in the 70s where you really could find the coolest vintage clothes for under a dollar. I have to say that both of my girls Sara and Rita both have always insisted on dressing themselves and often in clothing as children that most mothers would have been slightly afraid to let others see them in. Sara always insisted on her own style and still does... Rita often wore checked skirts and polka dot shirts to school in junior high with knee high socks and ugg boots... still does sometimes. As they both got older the clothing softened out a bit but to look at this photo really reminds me that really we are all entitled to our own style be it clothing, decorating the house or colors we make our hair! I will always look at this photo and think.."personal style" and that is what I love so much about it.. and also of course the fact that this was when I first got a camera and although I didn't take this photo I never ever stopped pestering Sara to wear this and pose that and stand here and her voice echos in my ear even today, "this is the last shot mom, no more!" Thanks Sara for being an ever-patient model for both myself and your auntie Sharon-- now you have some great "shots" to show your own 4 children!

Circus Boy & Midget Aunt

Here is a photo that came in an album of a midwestern family that spent most of the year traveling in a family circus, complete with elephants and horses and each member of the family had a different role to play. The mother was probably the fat lady and had 6 children, all who wore costumes and had a part to play in the circus. This photo is of her son and his aunt..the mom's sister. I know this by the fact that she looks so much like the mom except smaller. This family also had a farm which there are many photos in the album of chickens, pigs and dogs riding on the back of horses, even while at home.. off the job... can you imagine the life... the kids probably were home schooled if at all. They all seemed very happy and all I know is that the last name is Brown. This image is just one of many that I love from that album.

The Painter in His Studio Nancy France

Every so often there will be that image that just does it for me.This is one of those. There isn't anything I can say that will explain how much I love this image. The light seems to come in from an open window as only it could in 1906. this man is an artist who lives in a colony of artists in Nancy, France in 1906. He may or may not be part of a troupe who works year round on theater there for summer performances, not unlike our Shakespearian productions in Oregon. I was very fortunate to acquire a set of images from this town and each image bears it's own story and light! I really wish I knew who the photographer was but for me to find this out would be a trip to France with a pocket dictionary as my French is rusty since college. I also love this image as I am very interested in details. The painter's canvases are set up behind him with different half finished paintings on them. His desk has linseed oil and several implements as well as a cake of wax which isfor maybe mixing with the paints. HIs long wool peacoat hangs up high out of the way which makes me think its a small room where eveything is in it's place. He wears his suit for this semi formal portrait, his smock out of frame somewhere. I have added a link to my store so by clicking on his photo you will be able to access a larger version to see the details better. Once on the image in my Etsy store, there is a magnifier under the image, click on that for an even larger image. I will try to scan more of these images in as weeks go by. The story is fascinating!

American Goldfinch Pen and Ink watercolor by Rita

Here is the latest of many pen and ink drawings by my daughter Rita who is 16 yrs old. After doing acrylics for years, her art teacher at school introduced her to pen and ink and she has never looked back. This art-form has become her favorite and this recent piece is just wonderful. She picked up a huge vintage music book at a local estate sale a few weeks ago and decided to paint this directly over the music. I just noticed that the song April showers is the last song on the page.. her birth month and also mention of a bluebird which is tweet too! Please click on the image to link to her Etsy store.

Oh Rats! Fulton and Bobby w Pet Rats

Bobby & Fulton Freeman with their pet rats. You will see more from this wonderful family as I have a giant photo alum with a complete diary written by mother Freeman about her 5 children growing up in Southern California, all went to a Montessori school and learned to do everything for themselves.. I love this family and as I get their photos up you will love them too! The date is 1924. love that hat Bobby!

Ginger Dog

Isn't she a good dog sitting there.. one of my favorite glass negative images I created.. Ginger is in a Halloween treasury on Etsy thanks to WALRUSTUSK!.. click on her photo and see